News from MadisonJournalTODAY - Topics from July, 2014

With road-paving prices skyrocketing, Madison County officials are exploring the possibility of purchasing more equipment and handling paving jobs in-house. County commissioners recently opened bids for several proposed road projects and saw that costs from road-paving companies had nearly doubled. “We’ve got a problem,” said county ...
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A Danielsville man was arrested recently after he allegedly pulled over on the roadside and beat up his girlfriend. He was charged with one count of battery FVA. On July 14, deputy Chris Haston was dispatched to Wildcat Bridge Road to meet with a woman and a witness to her being assaulted. The woman said she and her boyfriend got into an ...
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Qualifying for the special election to fill the vacated tax commissioner’s seat will be held Aug. 4-6. Louise Watson retired from the post effective May 31 after 25 years in office. An election to fill the remaining two years of her term will be held Nov. 4. The fee to qualify is $1,491.65. Qualifying opens at the board of elections office at ...
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Danielsville could be the first city in the county to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday. It could also be the first to allow distilled spirits to be served by the drink at city restaurants (currently only beer or wine can be served by the drink). Residents will have the opportunity to vote on these issues on Election Day, Nov. 4 ...
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The eyes of the nation turned to Madison County 50 years ago July 11 when a black WWII veteran was murdered in the night by the Ku Klux Klan. The killing came just nine days after the passage of the Civil Rights Act on July 2, 1964. That legislation officially ended the Jim Crow era of “separate but equal” by prohibiting racial ...
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Madison County’s voter turnout was light in three statewide runoff races Tuesday. A total of 1,971 of the county’s 14,126 registered voters (13.95 percent) participated in the primary runoffs. Madison County’s choices were in line with statewide results. Local voters preferred David Perdue over Jack Kingston in the Republican primary ...
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Charges have been dropped against a Carlton couple arrested after their 1-year old daughter was found crawling along Hwy. 72 last month. Northern Circuit District Attorney Parks White said charges of reckless conduct and cruelty to children against Timothy Pickens, 37, and Molly Denise Pickens, 31, were dismissed after he, DFCS and the ...
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A Danielsville man was arrested on multiple charges last week after someone reported an intoxicated man driving off from an Ila store with four children in his car. The man was charged with DUI/drugs, weaving over the roadway, four counts of endangering a child by DUI/drugs, two counts of child or youth restraint not used properly and two ...
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A Winterville man was sentenced recently in Madison County Superior Court to eight years confinement for statutory rape. Joshua Scott Kell, 22, no address available, was also sentenced to 12 years probation and fined $6,300. Prosecutors chose not to seek a conviction on a charge of child molestation at this time. Other actions filed recently in ...
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The 2014 runoff election will come to an end Tuesday, July 22, as voters make their choices on which candidates will move on to the general election. All 12 county precincts will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. As of Wednesday morning, 290 people had voted early in the county elections office and 118 had submitted mailed ballots in the ...
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